VIDEO: LoPorto found not guilty on all remaining counts

Former City Councilman Michael LoPorto lets out a sigh of relief in Rensselaer County Court Wednesday afternoon as he and his attorney, Cheryl Coleman listen to the not guilty verdicts returned in the re-trial for his alleged involvement in the Working Families Party 2009 Primary ballot fraud scandal. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

Michael LoPorto hugs his daughters Francesca and Lydia Wednesday afternoon in Rensselaer County Court after he was found not guilty on all counts in the Working Families Party 2009 Primary ballot fraud scheme. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

TROY -- Although a jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all 22 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument that were brought against former City Councilman Michael LoPorto on Wednesday, something still has him fired up.

Audible cries from LoPorto's family members rang out through the Rensselaer County Courtroom after the first "not guilty" was read and as the rest of them came in, LoPorto could be seen sobbing with his attorney Cheryl Coleman consoling him.

His family, on the other hand, was congratulating him, until they came in contact with Special Prosecutor Trey Smith. LoPorto's daughters not only told Smith to leave their father alone, but also demanded that he move back to Texas.

Advertisement

LoPorto was initially charged with 29 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and 13 counts of second-degree forgery in the 2009 Working Families Party ballot fraud scandal. The 13 counts of forgery were dropped in the first trial after former City Clerk William McInerney, who pleaded guilty to a felony in connection with the case, admitted to forging the election documents LoPorto was charged with. The first trial, in which LoPorto and McInerney were co-defendants, ended in a mistrial after acting Supreme Court Judge declared the jury deadlocked,

Smith made a motion before this trial began to dismiss seven of the remaining counts against LoPorto, explaining that doing so would help to expedite the trial because he did not have enough evidence to show LoPorto knew those particular ballots were forged.

The jury in this trial made several requests, including one to hear the full testimony of LoPorto and a read back of the charges against him and the definition of reasonable doubt. It rendered its verdict just two hours after sending its last note.

Coleman said her heart was beating rapidly as the jury foreman prepared to read the verdict, something she said she never is never able to get rid of. Still, she said the fate of the case came down to exactly how she said it would in her opening statement and summation.

"What won the case is reasonable doubt," Coleman said.

The doubt could have been caused by the fact that everyone who testified never mentioned that LoPorto was in on the scheme. Smith alluded to that, saying it was a tough case for him to try and prove.

"I felt about this case at the end as I felt about it from the beginning which is it's tough to prove what someone is thinking," Smith said. "Mr. LoPorto got on the stand, he denied having any kind of knowledge and placed all the blame on the bad guys, which would be [former City Councilman John] Brown and [former City Clerk Bill] McInerney. And remember, it's a not guilty verdict. It's not a verdict of innocence."

Still, trying to prove what LoPorto was thinking by laying out the various meetings he showed up to in connection with the fraud wasn't enough for the jury to return a guilty verdict, as juror Ronald Sampath said that he and the other jurors just followed the evidence for around four hours and came up with several questions. "The consensus was reasonable doubt," Sampath said. "There were a lot of different questions."

After the verdict was read, LoPorto embraced his two daughters and walked to meet with his family. He said the three year case has been tough on his family but he maintained he never knew what was going on during the ballot fraud scheme.

"I wasn't as smart as the other politicians," LoPorto said. "I didn't do anything wrong."

When he was asked about his thoughts on the verdict, he pointed in Smith's direction and said, "Ask him what kind of a liar he is."